Epic
কাশীদাসী মহাভারত
Not translated into English
Kashiram Das · 1604
Synopsis
The great Sanskrit epic retold in Bengali verse: the rivalry between the Pandavas, led by their eldest brother Yudhishthira, and their cousins the Kauravas, led by Duryodhana; the game of dice, the exile, then the march to the war of Kurukshetra, where Bhishma, Drona and Karna line up on one side and Krishna on the other. The poet does not translate word for word: he cuts, moves and adds legends, and imbues the narrative with devotional fervour.
Context
The text was composed at the beginning of the seventeenth century, long after the first Bengali adaptation of the epic, that of Kavindra Parameshwar. Kashiram completed only four books, those of the beginnings, of the assembly, of the forest and of Virata; his son, a nephew and other relatives did the other fourteen. At the request of William Carey, Jayagopal Tarkalankar edited it, and the Serampore mission printed it in four volumes from 1802.
Who it is for
An entire epic in verse, with no French or English translation. It is not the Sanskrit Mahabharata but its Bengali version, abridged, displaced and expanded.
Prizes and reception
The most widely read of the Bengali versions of the Mahabharata, which has supplanted that of Nityananda Ghosh and is read in Hindu households of Bengal.
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